CARLSBAD, Calif.—Heidelberg, Germany-based febit holding
GmbH and Life Technologies Corp. in late September announced that they had
entered into a strategic co-marketing agreement to provide a new, scalable
solution for researchers conducting targeted resequencing studies.

This collaborative spirit also includes febit expanding its
genomic services facility in Heidelberg by adding several SOLiD high-throughput
sequencing systems and real-time PCR systems from Applied Biosystems (ABI),
which is part of Life Technologies. Two SOLiD systems have been added so far,
and febit will evaluate its workload next year to determine how many more might
need to be added.

Also as part of the agreement, febit has become a member of
both the SOLiD System and TaqMan Service Provider Programs—both of which are
intended to provide the scientific community with broad access to a
comprehensive solution for genomic research using next-generation sequencing.

"In addition to collaborating on a new solution for
researchers, we will also be rolling out our instruments to the ABI customer
base," notes Peer Staehler, chief scientific officer of febit. "The timing is
perfect because ABI recently came out with a new version of its extremely
powerful sequencing system and this is a technology that has formed the
backbone of human genome sequencing efforts."

But the big news, of course, is the new solution that the
companies are working toward, and Staehler looks forward to the opportunity to
combine HybSelect with the SOLiD System.

"Our next-generation sequencing facility will take the lead
in targeted sequencing of more than 1,000 samples per week," he notes. "Our
unique strength is the capability to go from tailor-made target sequence
capture to sequencing results in days, both for customers and our own internal
development programs."

Stahler sees his company's technology as boosting an already
powerful system into even bolder territory, noting that the HybSelect
technology is suited well to making super-sequencing technologies even more
powerful.

"ABI has a great sequencer and we have a great instrument to
make it even more powerful, especially for high-throughput applications,"
Staehler explains. "What is also important to note is that while we are
offering a new solution and service, we can also advise and work with companies
that want to set up their own operations to replicate what we have been able to
achieve at febit. So this is more than just a product/service offering but also
something where we will be consulting with companies and helping them develop
their workflows based on our successes in that regard."

Although he couldn't name names, he says that febit has a
few companies that have already approached it with strong interest in setting
up systems in a manner similar to febit.

"The SOLiD System has greatly reduced the time, cost and
effort to perform genetic variation studies," says Shaf Yousaf, president of
genomics analysis at Life Technologies. "The joint effort between Life
Technologies and febit will close a gap for highly efficient and accurate
resequencing of genomic loci that are possibly correlated with disease."

Large-scale studies to identify SNPs, mutations and new
biomarkers can be conducted now with many patient samples to receive
statistically relevant data, the companies note. This will, they believe, lead
to a better understanding of the development, progression and prognosis of
complex diseases like cancer, Alzheimer's disease, multiple sclerosis,
infections and many others, ultimately resulting in new therapies and
diagnostics.

Among the key applications Life Technologies and febit foresee
for the combined system are the cancer exome, disease-related loci with high
relevance for healthcare and drug development purposes, and areas identified
through genome-wide association studies.

Staehler sees particular potential for this collaboration in
reaching the pharma and biotech companies.

"That sector has actually been rather slow to move into
sequencing and re-sequencing efforts," he says. "Some 85 percent of the
organizations that have been doing this kind of work are in academia, but we are
seeing a shift, and predict that the pharma sector will be very eager for these
kinds of technologies and service offerings soon."